JPH04129117A - Illuminated push-button switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the miniaturization and improve assembly workability by providing a LED placed in contact with a housing in a recessed part and by making a part of metal plates in the recessed part as connecting lands for supplying a power supply to the LED. CONSTITUTION:An upper housing 2 holds a stem 7, which is inserted slidably in an upper opening 2a, and LEDs 8 of different color developments are disposed respectively in a contacting state in a pair of rectangular shaped recessed parts 2 formed at the both sides of the opening 2a. Namely, metal plates 9 which protrude both in the recessed parts 2b and outward are embedded in the housing 2, and a part of metal plates 9 protruding in the recessed parts 2b are used as connecting lands 9a for the LEDs 8. And, as there are no gap between the LEDs 8, provided in the recessed part of the housing, and the recessed part, moreover as lands 9a have been added in LEDs 8 beforehand, the space-factor increases and troublesome connecting work is unnecessary while assembling. Consequently, miniaturization is easier and assembly workability can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an illuminated push button switch equipped with an LED (light emitting diode).

[Prior Art] In an illuminated push button switch equipped with an LED, for example, the LED blinks in response to the on/off state of a switching part built into the housing, or the LED flashes in response to the on/off state of the switching part. LEDs of different colors are now lit, and demand is expected to increase in the future.

Conventional illuminated push button switches of this type have a structure in which a single ED is attached to a housing, and the connection terminal of the LED is connected to the terminal for supplying power to the LED.
L is linked to the switching section installed inside the housing.
By turning on or off the ED, the operating state of the switching section can be visually recognized by the light of the LED.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional illuminated push button switch has the following problems:
The disadvantage is that it is difficult to miniaturize the housing because it is necessary to secure a space for attaching and holding a single LED and a space for connecting the connection terminal of this LED to the power supply terminal. there were.

Moreover, the work of connecting the connection terminal of a single LED to the power supply terminal using solder or the like inside the housing is complicated.
This deteriorates the workability during assembly, resulting in poor assembly efficiency and an increase in costs.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an illuminated push button switch that is easy to downsize and has good assemblability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An object of the present invention described above is to provide an illuminated push button switch in which a switching part for switching contacts via a stem is provided in a housing, and an LED is held in the housing. A part of the metal plate embedded in the housing is provided to protrude into the recess of the housing, and the LED is provided in the recess in close contact with the housing, and the metal plate in the recess is used to supply power to the LED. This is achieved by making a connection land for supply.

[Operation] According to the above means, the LED in which the connection land is installed in advance
Since the LED is used, there is no need to perform complicated connection work during assembly, and there is no gap between the LED and the recess that holds the LED.

Since there is no need to secure space for connecting LED terminals within the housing, the space factor is improved and miniaturization can be easily achieved.

oral example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illuminated pushbutton switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a line A-A in FIG.
4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the LED used in this push button switch, and FIG. 6 is a manufacturing process diagram of the upper housing of this push button switch.

The housing of the illuminated pushbutton switch shown in these figures is
A lower housing 1 and an upper housing 2 are assembled by snap-in connection, and terminals 3a are buried in positions spaced apart from each other in the lower housing 1.
, 4a protrude outward, and a movable contact 5 that is always in contact with the fixed contact 3 and faces the fixed contact 4. is covered with a waterproof and dustproof resin film 6. In addition, the upper housing 2 slidably holds a stem 7 inserted into the upper opening 2a, and a pair of rectangular parallelepiped-shaped recesses 2b formed on both sides of the upper opening 2a each have a colored stem 7. different leds
8 (In this example, one LED is green and the other LED is green.
(D emits orange light) are arranged in close contact with each other. Namely.

A metal plate 9 protruding into the recess 2b and outward is embedded in the upper housing 2, and the portion of the metal plate 9 protruding into the recess 2b is connected to the connection land 9a of the LED 8.
The part of the metal plate 9 that protrudes outward is connected to the LED 8.
This is the external lead-out terminal 9b. The stem 7 is provided with a pair of protruding arms 7a to prevent it from coming off, and by locking these arms 7a to the short edge of the upper opening 2a of the upper housing 2, the stem 7 can be prevented from falling off. Prevented.

In the push button switch having the above configuration, when the stem 7 is pushed in a predetermined stroke, the top of the movable contact 5 is reversed and comes into contact with the fixed contact 4, so that the fixed contacts 3 and 4 are electrically connected via the movable contact 5. When the switch is turned on and the contact is turned on, one of the LEDs 8 lights up and emits green light.

Moreover, when the pushing force on the stem 7 is removed in this state, the movable contact 5 returns to its original shape by its own elasticity, so the stem 7 is pushed up and both fixed contacts 3
, 4 is disconnected and returns to the switch off state, and when the contacts are switched off, one of the LEs that was emitting light
D8 becomes clear, and the other LED 8 lights up instead, emitting orange light. Therefore, the operating state of the switching section of this pushbutton switch can be instantly visually recognized by the color of the light from the LED 8.

Next, a method for manufacturing the above-mentioned illuminated pushbutton switch will be described.

The lower housing 1 is produced by pressing a hoop-shaped metal plate (not shown) and then inserting this hoop-shaped metal plate into a mold to form the fixed contact 3.
4 and is manufactured into a predetermined shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper housing 2 also has a hoop-shaped metal plate 10 (
By inserting a metal plate 9 into a mold and forming it, recesses 2b are formed on both sides of the upper opening 2a, and a part of the metal plate 10 is inserted into each recess 2b as a connecting land. 9a
After that, the light emitting element 11 is connected to one of the pair of connection lands 9a facing each other in each recess 2b, and the wire 12 is connected to the light emitting element 11 led out from the light emitting element 11 to the other side. (see Figure 5), and then recess 2.
By filling the inside of the recess 2b with an epoxy transparent resin 13, an LED 8 that is held in close contact with the inner wall surface of the recess 2b is formed. In addition, the code|symbol 10a in FIG. 6 has shown the feed hole of the hoop-shaped metal plate 1o.

After forming a large number of lower housings 1 and upper housings 2 with LEDS in this way, a movable contact 5 is incorporated into the lower housing 1 and the lid is closed with a resin film 6. The metal plate is cut at a predetermined position to bend the terminals 3a and 4a, and similarly, the hoop-shaped metal plate 10 supporting each upper housing 2 is cut at a predetermined position to bend the terminal 9b for leading to the outside. After processing, this upper housing 2
With the stem 7 combined with the lower housing 1
1.2 to complete the assembly. The snap-in assembly of the lower and upper housings 1.2 is performed using four locking claws 14 that are vertically provided on the upper housing 2 in advance.

In this way, in the above embodiment, instead of attaching a single LED, the LED 8 is directly formed in the recess 2b of the upper housing 2, and the connecting land 9a is pre-installed in the LED 8. Recess 2b
Since there is no gap between the two, the space factor is improved, and an illuminated push button switch that is advantageous for miniaturization can be obtained, and the ease of assembly is also improved because there is no need to perform complicated connection work during assembly. In addition, in the above embodiment, the width of the stem 7 along the width direction of the upper opening 2a is small, and if the peripheral edge of the upper opening 2a is made wide only on the short side where the arm portion 7a is locked, the stem 7 This is also advantageous for downsizing, since the long sides can be narrow. Furthermore, conventional illuminated pushbutton switches generally have LEDs provided on the lower housing side, but in the above embodiment, the LED 8 is provided on the upper housing 2 side, so it is bright when illuminated and improves visibility.

In the above embodiment, not only the lower housing 1 but also the upper housing 2 can be supplied with a hoop during manufacturing.
At the molding stage, a large number of upper housings 2 can be cut out at once and stored, making it possible to improve the efficiency of the molding cycle. Furthermore, since the molded upper housing 2 can be reliably positioned when being supplied to an automatic assembly machine, chucking defects are less likely to occur, and productivity is improved.

Although a pair of LEDs with different colors are used in the above embodiment, a plurality of LEDs with the same color may be used to increase the brightness during illumination, or only one LED may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, there is no gap between the LED disposed in the recess of the housing and the recess.
Moreover, since the connection land is pre-built into the LED, the space factor is improved, and there is no need to perform complicated connection work during assembly, thereby providing an illuminated push button switch that is easy to downsize and has good assembly performance. be able to.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings all relate to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illuminated push button switch, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 2 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the LED used in this push button switch, and FIG. 6 is a manufacturing process diagram of the upper housing of this push button switch. 1...Lower housing, 2...Upper housing, 2b...Recess, 3, 4...
...Fixed contact, 5...Movable contact, 7...
- Stem, 8...LED, 9...Metal plate, 9a...Connection land, 9b...Terminal for external plug, -Issuing element, 12・Wire, 13...Transparent resin. Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an illuminated push button switch in which a switching part for switching contacts is provided in a housing through a stem and an LED is held in the housing, a part of the metal plate embedded in the housing is placed in a recess in the housing. The LED is provided in the recess in close contact with the housing, and the metal plate in the recess is connected to the L.
An illuminated push button switch characterized by having a connection land for supplying power to an ED.